In fact, with many communities seeing a decline in structure fires during the past decade, more and more departments find themselves helping with other problems, from chemical spills to air conditioners on the fritz.

“Nowadays, if someone in the community has a problem and they don’t know who to call, they call us,” said Danbury Deputy Chief Bernie Meehan. “If we don’t have the right skill set, then we’ll find someone who does.”

New Milford Chief Todd Wheeler agreed.

“The type of calls have certainly changed over the years,” he said . “We get a lot more animal rescues, dogs stuck in pipes, that kind of thing, that we didn’t get before. When people don’t know who else to call for help, they call the fire department.”

Meehan said many firefighters have worked previously as plumbers, carpenters, mechanics and roofers — skills that often prove valuable when unusual calls come in.

Earlier this summer, for example, a call came in from a woman who couldn’t get her air conditioner to work, Meehan said. Firefighters fixed it for her.

And when another call came in that someone’s heat wasn’t working, firefighters fixed the thermostat.

“We’ve had guys who have put up handrails in bathrooms for the elderly or suggested they move area rugs because they could cause a fall,” Meehan said. “Basically we are in the safety business, and these guys are going above and beyond every day.”

And naturally there are variations on the cat-stuck-in-a-tree calls that firefighters have always made.

About a year ago, Meehan recalled, a kitten climbed into a car engine and somehow got stuck. It took firefighters more than half an hour to disassemble the engine and free the kitten, which Meehan has since adopted and named Mona Lisa.

Danbury Assistant Chief Mark Omasta added that firefighters recently helped free a dog whose paw had become stuck in a bathtub drain. They removed part of the drain fixture from the tub, freed the dog’s paw and put the tub back together.

“Every call is an opportunity to make an impact in someone’s lives, and we try to make the best possible impact we can every day,” Omasta said. “We are always here for the citizens, both the people who live here and the people who visit, and we want to do the best job possible helping them with their needs.”

But for all the help they render, firefighters still spend most of their time dealing with serious emergencies.

Vaughn Dumas, president of the Connecticut Firefighter Association, said it’s true that new technology and stricter building codes have reduced the number of structure fires over the years, but other types of emergencies are more common than ever.

Water rescues, for example.

“Just yesterday, we had a car that drove off the road and into the Housatonic River,” Dumas said. “And with distracted driving, the number of crashes have been on the increase.”

Many departments have developed specialized teams to deal with other emergency situations.

“A sign of the times is that many departments are responding to a lot more calls of suspicious packages,” Dumas said. “There have also been an increased call volumes in the state for hazardous materials or suspicious powders.”

In Danbury, Meehan said, the department has more than a dozen specialized vehicles, including one for trench rescues, a decontamination trailer and a mobile hospital.

“Because we are the largest career department in the area, we’ve become a regional hub for many of the more specialized units,” he said. “But they are available to any town that needs them. If we get a request, we don’t say no. We just go where we are needed.”

Fire departments themselves have also become community gathering places, particularly in times of stress and trauma. Such was the case during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, when nearby volunteer firehouse became the central staging hub for parents and first responders

“The firefighters in these situations often end up providing a variety of support to their residents, from offering refreshments to a shoulder to cry on,” Dumas said.

“The fire service is evolving into areas we’ve never been before. As society evolves, so must we.”